Lithium-ion batteries are no longer the gold standard in battery tech
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EACH WEDGE CONSISTS OF DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTIONS OF ELECTRODE-ELECTROLYTE INTERFACES TO CONTRIBUTE TO A PRACTICAL DESIGN OVERHAUL OF LITHIUM METAL ELECTRODES
view moreCREDIT: YANYAN WANG, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
The use of lithium metal as the anode for batteries is one of the smarter options with better energy density than other materials. However, the interface between the electrode and electrolyte has quite a few issues that can be addressed for a safer and more functional outcome in the future.
The researchers are keen on replacing the graphite anode with lithium metal anode to construct a battery system with higher energy density. However, the Li metal anode is unstable and readily reacting with electrolyte to form a solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI). Unfortunately, the natural SEI is brittle and fragile, resulting in poor lifespan and performance. Here, researchers have looked into a substitute for nature SEI, which could effectively mitigate the side reactions within the battery system. The answer is ASEI: artificial solid electrolyte interphase. ASEI corrects some of the issues plaguing the bare lithium metal anode to make a safer, more reliable, and even more powerful source of power that can be used with more confidence in electric vehicles and other similar applications.
Researchers published their findings in Energy Materials and Devices on September 25th.
“Battery technologies have been revolutionizing our lifestyle and are closely related to everyone’s life. To realize a truly carbon-free economy, batteries with better performance are required to replace current Li-ion batteries” said Yanyan Wang, author and researcher of the study.
Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are such a candidate. However, the anode, lithium metal, is reactive with electrolyte and a passivation layer, called a solid-electrolyte interphase, forms on the surface of lithium metal during battery operation. Another issue of lithium metal anode is so called “dendrite growth”, appearing during battery charging. Dendrites look like tree-branch structures that cause internal damage to the battery, leading to short-circuiting, poor performance, and potential safety hazards. These weaknesses altogether reduce the practicality of LMBs and pose some challenges that must be addressed.
The review introduced some strategies that can be employed to create a more effective and safer lithium metal anode. To improve upon the lithium metal anode, researchers found it is necessary to homogenize the distribution of lithium ions, which can help reduce the deposits on negatively charged areas of the batteries. This, in turn, will reduce the dendrite formation which can prevent premature decay and short-circuiting. Additionally, creating an easier way for the lithium ions to diffuse while also ensuring the layers are electrically insulated can help retain the integrity of the structure, both physically and chemically, during battery cycling. Most importantly, reducing the strain between the interface of the electrode and electrolyte can ensure proper connectivity between the layers, which is an essential part of the functionality of the battery.
The strategies that appear to have the most potential are polymeric ASEI layers and inorganic-organic hybrid ASEI layers. The polymeric layers have sufficient adjustability in their design with the strength and elasticity being easily adjustable. Polymeric layers also have similar functional groups as electrolytes which makes them extremely compatible; this compatibility is one of the major areas other components lack. Inorganic-organic hybrid layers are best for their reduction in layer thickness and marked improvement over the distribution of components within the layers, which improves the overall performance of the battery.
The future of the ASEI layers is bright but calls for some improvements. Researchers mainly would like to see improvement in the adhesion of the ASEI layers on the surface of the metal, which overall improves the function and longevity of the battery. Additional areas that require some attention are stability in the structure and chemistry within the layers, as well as minimizing the thickness of the layers to improve the energy density of the metal electrodes. Once these issues are worked out, the road ahead for an improved lithium metal battery should be well-paved.
Yanyan Wang, Mingnan Li, Fuhua Yang, Jianfeng Mao, and Zaiping Guo from the School of Engineering and Advanced Materials at the University of Adelaide contributed to this research.
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JOURNAL
Energy Materials and Devices
ARTICLE TITLE
Developing artificial solid-state interphase for Li metal electrodes: recent advances and perspective
A new energy storage device is modelled constituting an alternative to traditional batteries
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3D RENDERED LAYOUT OF THE IDEALISED IOWC AND SYSTEM SCHEMATIC DISPLAYING DIMENSIONS (
view moreCREDIT: ANTONIO MARTÍN-ALCÁNTARA, JOSÉ LUIS ARANDA-HIDALGO , ALBERTO JIMÉNEZ-SOLANO , ANTONIO J. SARSA-RUBIO
The University of Cordoba proposes and analyses the operation of an energy storage system based on a cylindrical tank immersed in water that is capable of storing and releasing energy in response to the market
Clean energy, based on renewable sources such as sunlight and wind, stands as the way forward towards a more inhabitable and sustainable world. A hurdle to this, however, is that renewables do not always produce energy when it is needed, and finding storage that is clean and with sufficient capacity is indispensable. Faced with the environmental impact of the extraction and recycling of the materials needed to build conventional batteries, which are often scarce, the research community is looking for alternatives.
Among these alternatives, an innovation has emerged, the result of a collaborative effort between the University of Cordoba's departments of Electrical and Automatic Engineering, Mechanics, and Physics. This device, developed by researchers Antonio Martín Alcántara, José Luis Aranda Hidalgo, Alberto Jiménez Solano and Antonio Sarsa Rubio, allows energy to be stored and released at the ideal time, using a cylindrical tank immersed in water. The system takes advantage of hydrostatic pressure (the weight of the liquid column on a surface) to compress air and subsequently expand it, in a turbine, delivering that stored energy.
The system, which could be submerged in a reservoir, for example, "consists of a cylindrical tube with a disc that divides it into two chambers: an upper one with water, and a lower one with air," explained Antonio Martín. "Initially (with the system loaded), the disc is up and the cylinder is full of air. Then that disc goes down and the water occupies the top of the cylinder, in turn compressing the air to a very high pressure due to the weight of the water," he continued. This is the energy release phase, since that compressed air comes out of a hole in the bottom of the cylinder and drives a turbine generating the energy.
To recharge the tube's storage a motor would be used, for example, to raise the disc so that the air would reoccupy the entire cylinder. "The device has been designed to store energy during periods of low prices and for recovery during peak ones," explained José Luis Aranda Hidalgo, who registered the invention inspired by this study as Utility Model (ES-1291145-Y)
The name given to the system is iOWC, as it revisits the existing Oscillating Water Column (OWC), but in reverse. This system, the OWC, is a simple mechanism used to extract energy from ocean waves through a cylinder in which the volume of water is below and its level rises with the ocean waves, thereby generating energy. This new inverted application, the iOWC, stands as an energy storage alternative.
At the Physics level, researchers Alberto Jiménez Solano and Antonio Sarsa Rubio have contributed to this theoretical feasibility analysis through conservation equations, which made it possible to define the practical dimensions necessary for the system's design and future implementation.
The results obtained by the team allow us to know how the system would respond, identifying the appropriate design conditions for its operation taking into account the aspect ratio (that between the width and height of the cylinder) and the size of the air outlet hole to achieve the necessary energy and power, reducing the oscillations that could occur in the cylinder's disc due to pressure. To mitigate these oscillations the researchers also propose a damping system.
With the development and theoretical formulation of this device's design progress is made towards a clean alternative for energy storage that would also make possible the charging and discharging of energy in response to market situations.
Reference
Martín-Alcántara, A., Aranda-Hidalgo, J. L., Jiménez-Solano, A., Sarsa-Rubio, A. (2023). Analysis and design of an inverted oscillating water column for energy storage under choked flow conditions. Energy, 285, 0360-5442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2023.129356
JOURNAL
Energy
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Computational simulation/modeling
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
Analysis and design of an inverted oscillating water column for energy storage under choked flow conditions
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